Growth
by Pheep
Summary: (Previously named Kyakko o Abiteiru) Yet another female-lead HM64 fic. ^^ Rose is a city girl who decides to take over her grandpa's farm, and yes, she actually went voluntarily. The poor naive soul. XD (Rating for chaps to come)
1. My god,who are these people?

_Friday, spring 2nd_

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Dear Diary,

We're almost at Flower Bud Village now!I can't wait.The ferryman said it would only be a few more minutes.I can already see the beach from the boat's deck!Ahhh,Flower Bud Village.It looks like such a nice place.I'm sure I'll enjoy living there.

...I do miss the city,though....

...Argh,I guess I shouldn't be lying to my own diary.I hate this.I SPENT MY ENTIRE LIFE IN THE CITY!How will I get used to this?!I had to sneak my laptop into my suitcase!My parents weren't going to let me bring it!!Can you believe it!?I also had to sneak in bubble gum,my CD player,my CDs,my video games and systems,my hair care products,and a whole bunch of other stuff!WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE,A MISH!?

*Sigh*

Well,I guess I should stop writing now,Diary.We're getting pretty close to the shore...Hm,a lot of people there,too.Intresting.Anyway,until the next entry...

~Rose

Rose snaps her diary shut,gazing out ahead,jade green eyes scanning the beach. (_The people there all look somewhat...dated...fashion-wise.) _Rose thinks as she raises an eyebrow,her gaze stopping at a particularly old-fashioned looking blue and white dress,worn by a girl with light brown hair in a boyish cut. ( _She certainly looks happy.Wonder how she manages it in such a tight,frilly thing...Maybe she wears a corset,too...) _She gives a quick shudder.

_ (Oh well.They can't be that bad...)_

The ferry pulls up to the dock,and Rose can't help but grin as she steps out towards the happy waving crowd.She slips a few strands of her bright red hair behind her ears,hoisting her suitcase up a little higher with her other hand so it won't brush against the sand.People are already rushing up to meet her,and before Rose can blink,another redheaded girl in a yellow blouse and jean overalls is shaking hands with her,somewhat vigorously.The girl is grinning broadly at Rose,albeit a tad sheepishly.

"Hiya!My name's Ann!Welcome to Flower Bud Village!!" She says,and lets go of Rose's hand,her french braid swinging in the breeze. She tugs at the blue ribbon in her hair,and points with her free hand at a large farming area just above the sleek rock wall leading down to the seashore. 

"I have to get back to work.My family and I run the ranch up yonder,and my dad has a store for livestock and farming equipment. Stop by anytime! It was nice meeting ya,er...Oh yeah,what's your name?" She asks,cocking her head and giving an awkward smile,her hands now behind her back.

Rose blinks a couple of times before answering, "Ahm,Rose.It was nice meeting you too--"

"Rose!Got it!I'll cya later,Rose!" And she was gone,running briskly up the pathway to her Ranch.

Rose blinks again,and watched her leave. _(Well,that was strange...)_

She walks cautiously over to the other people,and the girl in the frilly dress walks up to her.

"Um,hello there..." She says,giving a quick polite bow and holding out her hand. "M-my name's Elli.I'm very pleased to meet you,Rose." She smiles pleasantly and Rose shakes her hand,half-smiling back.

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(She seems nice),Rose thinks,as Elli steps back and gestures to the pathway with her hand.

"I have to go now.My grandmother is expecting me shortly.She's kind of weak,and couldn't make the walk here.My...family and I run the village bakery.Please stop by sometime!"

She turns around and walks quickly up the pathway,waving as she goes.

The last girl there walks over to Rose,and does a quick curtsy.She has long,wavy pink hair up in a dark red hair band,and is wearing a dress almost as old-fashioned as Elli's.She holds out her hand.

"Hello.My name is Popuri!It's wonderful to meet you,Rose." She grins broadly and Rose shakes her hand,but the grin fades quickly,and becomes a short smile. "My mother is the village florist. She runs a shop in the village for plant seeds,so you should visit us there once you get everything worked out." She brushes the skirt of her dress off with her hands,then turns to leave. " I have some errands to run now. Everyone's in a hurry,it seems..." She lets out a small sigh,and Rose watches as she runs up the pathway like the other girls.

There aren't that many other people left now: Only the mayor,some young children and their grandfather,the local potion maker.Rose greets the children and old man,and then he mayor,an eccentric little man in a bright red suit,offers her a tour of the village.

"No thanks." She says,trying to hold back a snicker as mayor bows his head,and replies with all the theatricals of a Shakespearean play: "Oh,well,I suppose you can find your own way,then.Farewell!" He scuttles off up the pathway,the potion brewer and his grandchildren following close behind.Then he suddenly whirls around as the other three leave. "B-but you ought to know where your farm is,at least!" He yells. "Go up the pathway and take a right!You can't miss it!" And with a tip of the hat,he was gone.

Rose stands there a moment,chewingthe inside of her cheek thoughtfully. _(Oh yeah...The stupid farm...)_ She trudges up the pathway with a dramatic sigh. When she arrives at the farm gates,she pushes then open,and they give a loud creek.

"Wow,these things are really rus--GWAAAAAA-A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

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~To be continued in Chapter 2~

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A Nugget of Authorific Joy: o.o Tah-dah.And stuff...Gah,the next chapter might be in past tense X.x;; Silly,hm?Anywho,please review... --Pheep 


	2. This is NOT happening

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It's chapter two.O_O OMG YES IT IS!By the way,the problem with accessin this fic from my profile is all fixed now ^o^ Anyway,ficcy time.. 

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"Oh...My...God..."

Rose falls to her knees and stares, gaping at the sight of her new farm.

It's a mess. Rocks and twigs are scattered all over the field,and weeds are sprouting up everywhere.There's no way a person would be able to tell that it is a farm,except for the dusty,run-down buildings on the premises lightly resembling a chicken coop and a barn.

And then,of course,there is the house. It is the size of a shack. It has no paint, and the windows are boarded up,as is the door. Rose gawks at it, trembling.

"WHY ME!?!?!?!"

She grasps a nearby fence post lifts herself up,staggering feebly towards the boarded up door.

"Why the hell did I ever agree to this...I never would have agreed to this if I had known..."

Rose pulls the heavy wooden boards off of the door,which takes a while,considering how 'weak from shock' she is.When she finally stumbles awkwardly into her new home,she almost falls over with new shock.The room is _-tiny-_. The only furniture is a wooden chest beside the door,a dusty old TV,a bed and it's nightstand,and a small,wooden table in the center of the room.Rose holds back a scream and whispers brokenly to herself:

"There isn't...even...a _chair_."

She twitches,then notices a small door on the left side of the room.She staggers toward it.

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(Please let it be big,please let it be big...)

She opens the door,only to reveal...

A toilet.A toilet,a sink,and a roll of toilet paper.The room is even smaller than the last.

Rose stares,falling back in horror.

"NO _BATHTUB_!?!?" She shrieks,her face pale.

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"This place is sick...This place is sick,twisted,and _WRONG_..."

Rose trudges gloomily toward the river on moon mountain in a dark red bikini,backpack sagging,her hair up in a loose bun.She dumps the pack unceremoniously onto the ground,and unpacks several different bathroom products.She looks down at them a moment,her brow knitted,then quickly collects four of them into her arms,and marches into the river.

Rose sits down in the freezing cold water,shivering as she undoes her bun and squirts some transparent purple goop onto her head from a shampoo bottle, mumbling incoherently. She rubs the shampoo into her scalp until her hair is good and soapy,then ducks her head underwater.A second later she comes up again,gasping.

"It's...so...cold..."

She shudders and gingerly lays the back of her head against the water, wringing the remaining soapiness out of her hair with her submerged hands.She does the same thing with the conditioner and the detangling spray,and is about to finish the job with her lovely peach-scented shower gel,when she feels something..._cold_...and _slimy_...sliding across her back.

Rose screams and jumps to her feet,hopping about,whimpering,and generally looking very,very silly.She peers down into the soapy water,and yelps in surprise as a small,silver fish jumps up out of it,slapping her in the cheek with its tail as it dives back in.

Rose curses and glares down at the part of the river where the fish disappeared into,then snatches up her things and walks quickly toward her backpack,silently fuming.When everything is packed and ready she slings the backpack over her shoulders and stalks angrily toward the Moon Mountain exit.She is just about to leave when a cheerful voice calls out to her:

"Hey,missy!"

Rose turns around and looks for the source of the voice. An old man in fishing equipment is smiling and waving to her,and so,curiously,she walks over to him.

"You don't like fish,I take it?" He says,chuckling.

Rose blinks. "What?Er...Not the ones in this river..." She casts an angry glance towards her bathing spot,then turns back to the fisherman. "Why?"

He beams at her. "How'd you like to get some revenge,dearie?"

Rose blinks,her mouth forming a small smile. "_Revenge_?..."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Gwa-haha-haHA!..."

Rose laughs,beaming triumphantly and marching toward her farm,a brand new fishing rod leaning against her shoulder.Her backpack moves a little every now and then,and a large blue fishtail is sticking out from under the flap.It has been a good day for fishing.She strolls merrily towards the gates of her farm,then notices someone standing by her new house.She rushes in.

"Hey!!Who're _you_?!"

The person turns to her. He is a large,muscular redhead with tanned skin and sweaty clothing.He grins at her.

"Oh,hey there! You must be the new farmer!" He says as Rose walks over to the small wooden bin the man is standing next to. "I was only checking the harvesting bin.S'my job,you know."

Rose blinks and cocks her head. "Harvesting bin?..."

The man blinks at her,then roars with laughter. "Ya mean they didn't TELL YOU!?"

She blinks again,looking a bit agitated. "No...What?"

After the man finishes laughing,he tells her. "Every day,I come to this farm at 5pm. When I come, I check this little bin here for any daily harvests. You put any farmed crops or foraged items that you want to sell in here every day before 5pm,and you'll make a pretty good profit off of it."

Rose's eyes widen. "Wow,really?I didn't know that...Foraged items?" She raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah.There are plenty of items on Moon Mountain the whole year round that you can sell to me.Basically anything that's not a bug,a weed or grass." He laughs.

Rose stares. "Oh...Cool.Uhm,do fish count?"

The man looks at her. "Well,sure! Why d'ya ask?"

"Well..." Rose takes her backpack off and opens it up,then hands it to the man.He looks inside and his eyebrows zoom way up.

"Woah...That's a LOT of fish!" He says,holding up a certain small,silver one.Rose smirks evilly at it.

"What'll they get me?" She asks,smirk plainly growing.

"Well.lemme see...He dumps the fish onto the ground and lays them out by size. "Hrm...2 large,4 medium,3 small...Why,that'd add up to 1030 gold,miss!"

Rose stares vacantly. "Is that a good amount?..."

The man blinks at her. "What,they don't use GOLD where you're from?!"

She shakes her head.

He laughs. "Well,its not great,but it's a pretty good amount for 1 day's work...around the same amount of cash a whole crop would get ya!"

Rose's eyebrows raise. "Wow..."

"Yeah." The man collects the fish and drops them all into a large sack."Well,I should get going now.By the way,my name's Zack.Oh,and I don't come on holidays."

Rose smiles at him. "I'm Rose...What holidays are celebrated here?..." She asks,and Zack laughs again.

"Why,just go buy a calender at the library,if yer so curious! And don't worry,a buncha people will always stop by to fill you in if a festival's comin' up."He grins down at her.

"The library?Where's that?..." Rose cocks her head again,hands on her hips.

He chuckles. "To the left side of town.S'the only place that looks like a store there,so it's easy to find.You'll have to wait until tommorow,though. It's closed now.Everything closes at around 5 or 6,cept the bar,of course."

Rose nods slowly. "All right...I'll do that.She holds out her hand. "It was nice meeting you,Zack.

He shakes it. "You too,Rose!" Then he lets go,gives her the gold for the fish,and exits the farm with a short wave.

Rose stares after him,then turns and looks at her farm,grinning.

"This is gonna be hell." She says, starting to laugh.

**__**

~Continued in Chappy 3!~

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Super Duper Author's Note O.o!: ^.^ H'lo all! Like the ficcy so far?0-0 Reviiiew... 


	3. The fun just keeps on coming!

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[Here's tomorrow's forecast: A light rain throughout the day,possibly lasting until--]

[The educational channel--]

[Bzzzzzzttttt--]

Rose flips through the channels,looking very annoyed. "There's nothing to watch!"

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[This month's festivals are as follows...]

"Oooh,here's something..."

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[The sowing festival on the 8th,the horse races on the 17th,and the Flower Festival on the 23rd.That is all.]

Rose switches off the TV and chews the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. "Weird holidays..."

She gets up and walks outside,and the first thing she sees when she steps through the door is the field.

"Oh,yeah,that's exactly what I need to see at 6am." She mutters sarcastically.

It does look a little better now though.After Zack had left the night before,Rose had done a little 'Spring Cleaning'. There are less weeds now,and several of the rocks have been obliterated,too.Rose smirks. _(Fine anger management device,that hammer...)_ She smashes another rock on sudden impulse,and whistles merrily as she exits the farm.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The flower shop hadn't been as hard to find as Rose had expected. As soon as she had entered the village area,she had seen Popuri watering some flowers on the store's window boxes. Rose now enters the shop.

It's a very cozy place. Several brightly-colored satchels filled with various types of seeds are tidily shelved on the left side of the room,and in the center there is a small,round table,decorated with a blue tablecloth and a vase of yellow flowers.Sitting on the table there is a small pad of paper,on which is written a few very informative notes on spring planting.After Rose skims the notes,she approaches the cashier,Popuri's mother,Lillia.

"Hello there!You must be Rose.Welcome to Flower Bud village." She smiles sweetly,and Rose can't help but smile sheepishly back.

Rose walks over to a particular section of seeds,and picks one of the satchels up.

"Those are turnip seeds." Says Lillia."While they don't sell for as much as the others,they grow quite a bit faster.The ones on the left of the turnips are potato and cabbage,and after that are the grass and flower seeds. Vegetable seeds are 200 gold a bag,grass 500,and flowers 100.Got that?"

Rose nods and quickly chooses which seeds to buy.She leaves the store carrying one each of every type of vegetable seed,waving to Popuri on the way back home.She's near the edge of the village,when she suddenly remembers what Zack had said about the calendars.She heads toward the library.

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As soon as Rose steps foot inside the library,she is able to sense how old the building is.The air has a comfortably musty texture,and several of the floor boards creak quietly as Rose walks over them.She scans the sturdy wooden bookcases.On every shelf is a long row of slightly dusty books,all of which are neatly alphabetized.Rose starts looking at the many titles on the books' bindings,smiling lightly.

(It's very...pleasant...in here.) Rose thinks to herself.She dwells on this thought for a moment,trying to come up with a better fitting word to describe the library.

"Ah,w-welcome.You're the new girl,aren't you?" The quiet voice interrupts Rose's thoughts,and she spins around in surprise,looking in the direction of the voice's origin.

Rose's sharp green eyes now meet with the softened brown ones of another teenage girl.Her skin is pale,and her hair is long and dark. It takes Rose a few moments to even notice that the girl is wearing glasses. 

"M-my name is Maria." The girl says, standing up from behind the library counter and walking towards Rose. The dress she is wearing is long,plain and blue.Maria holds out her hand,and Rose shakes it slowly.

"W-what is your name again?Rosa?" Maria straightens out a few of the wrinkles in the skirt of her dress,looking up at Rose nervously.

Rose blinks. "What?Oh,no,it's Rose.But how did you--"

"My father told me...Uhm,he's the Mayor." She smiles faintly, a touch of pride further straightening her frame.

Rose gawks at her,then plops down onto a nearby chair,her usual personality rushing back to her. "WHAT!?You look nothing alike!" She laughs,then smirks good-naturedly as a light blush spreads across Maria's face.

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(Such a...pleasant...girl.)

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Later that night,Rose lays back against her pillow,eyes clouded,looking very,very tired. Soon her eyelids fall closed,and she falls into a heavy sleep,thoughts of festivals and the townspeople swirling around in her head,transforming into dreams. 

A small calendar now hangs on the wall.

**__**

~Continued in Chapter Four o_o~

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Time for the Author to Babble Once Again!: Heeeey everyone. I hope this chapter was as good as the others. I did a good 2/3rds of it when it was really late...or...er...early O-o;;; Try 5am. I swear I'm going to change my nocturnal tendancies before I go to Washington State next week...Whitbey Island,or however you spell it.Beach.Online friends to meet IRL.Manga.Clean air.No more daily red or orange heat alerts...X-x Yay. Only for a week,of course.Oh well.Anyway,I probably wont be writing any chapters from the 20th to the 27th,if anybody cares...(Well,maybe on the 27th).

Erf,anyway,time for ficcy discussion!O.o If anyone's wondering about the romance portion of the plot,don't worry. It's coming ^.~ Plus,I'm going to try and get the fourth chapter written out (And posted,too!Yaaay O_o; ) before I leave Tuesday,but if not...meh.S'life.Get the hell used to it.=D

~Pheep @@

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	4. Spring festivities, doncha know

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Author's Revised Chatter: Hey everyone ^^; Trying to fix the fourth chappy!Okay,there are two things that I wanna say to people who were lucky enough to start reading this in time for this better version: Number One – You may notice that I added some things to the Sowing Festival activities.Meh.I was hoping it would make things more interesting ^.^;; Number Two: I also estimated how much one of Flower Bud Village's gold coins would be worth in normal currency,and its just an estimate,but I think it's pretty goddamn accurate O.o Woo.Anyway,READ!0.0

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Tuesday,Spring 7th

Dear Diary,

Believe it or not,things are going okay here.Well,maybe okay is overstating things,but at least I'm making some money...A whole crop of turnips was ready for harvesting when I woke up today!Cha-ching!

Anyway,sorry I havent updated since Friday,but I've been so freaking BUSY!Chop this,forage that,it never ends!Ugh...Well,at least there's a holiday tommorow,that might be interesting.

MIGHT...

Im sighing now,diary.

~Rose

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(Later that morning...)

"Argh...This thing is heavyyy..."

Rose hoists the large blue watering can up out of the tiny pool outside the empty barn (Which actually would make quite a good well,if she ever got around to building one over it),knuckles turning white as she carries it across the farm.

When she finally reaches the sprouting crops at the other end of the field,she is on the verge of collapse,and it shows.Her cheeks are flushed,her flaming red hair is damp with sweat,and her eyes are half-closed and slightly twitchy.

"Oh...my...god..." She says,panting and lifting the watering can a couple inches above the first plant, "It...is...so...freaking...hot..." 

Rose gets down on her knees,and finds that without the unpleasant task of trying to keep her legs from buckling and turning to jelly,it really isn't nearly as overwhelmingly heinous!...Though still,it REALLY isn't something the average 17-year-old city girl would go through without swearing several times,which is exactly what Rose does as she waddles around on her folded-up legs,watering the crops,plant by plant.

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When Rose finally finishes a good fifteen minutes later ((Note: That be a long time for two crops x.X;)),she slowly gets to her feet,glaring murderously at the watering can. "I hate you..." Seconds later she is inside her shack --Er,house-- in which she hastily flings open the unlocked basket-weave tool chest,and promptly dumps the half-empty can roughly down,next to the axe.She smirks contently,watching it land shakily with a dull thud.

Rose then closes the chest's cover once again,and changes out of her dirty clothes,putting on a fresh,light blue tanktop and a pair of faded blue jeans.She looks around her tiny home,a critical look on her face.

Another sigh.

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Rose steps outside of the house about an hour later,looking much better than before. After reading a couple of old magazines and checking her email on her laptop,she had taken a quick nap,which had done wonders,really. She pushes a stray tress of hair back behind her ear,tugging at the sky-blue headband that she had put on before going out ((She had also put on a pair of purple-lensed sunglasses,since is was so...well...sunny O.o;)). She looks up at the sky and wipes a hand over her forehead. "Damn,I'm _starving_!.." 

She walks toward the farm exit,wondering if the bakery has any cheesecake for sale that day,when she suddenly bumps into Popuri as she walks through the open gates.

"Oh,geez,sorry." Rose says as the pink-haired girl runs a hand through the skirt of her usual dress.

(_Jesus,does she have any other clothing!?) _Rose thinks,an apologetic smile plastered across her face.Popuri looks up at her and gives a quick curtsy. "Oh,that's alright,Rose.Erm,I just came to tell you about the Sowing Festival.It's tommorow,if you didn't know."

"Oh.Yeah,I knew about that.I bought a calendar a few days ago."Rose replies,swinging her thumb over her shoulder and pointing in the general direction of her house.

Popuri pulls at her hairthing a moment,smiling timidly."Ah,I see.Well,I should still tell you what the festival's about,at least." She begins to twirl a lock of her cherry blossom hair,and starts to explain. 

"The Sowing Festival takes place in the Town Square.What happens is,the town sets up this huge hot air balloon,and the current King of Festivals--Er,I'll tell you about that some other time--Anyway,the King picks one other person from the crowd to go up in the balloon with him,and they bring a huge bundle of seeds up with them,which they scatter all over the place,and that's why it's called the Sowing Festival." Rose nods,and Popuri's smile broadens. She clears her throat and continues. "The other people at the festival help too,by getting a balloon from my mom--A normal balloon,not one for riding--and every balloon has a different kind of seed placed inside it.So after the King and the person he chose are out of sight,we let go of the balloons.Then there's usually some snacks,and maybe a little dancing,and sometimes my mom sells some rare seeds,if my dad could find any to send to us...But only vegetable seeds!Flowers come on the 23rd."

She finishes with another curtsy,then says: "Erm,I have to go run some errands at the Green Ranch now,so I'll see you at the festival,Rose!" And before Rose has a chance to say anything,Popuri is off,quickly dissapearing into the store run by Ann's father.

(_How did these people learn how to walk so friggin fast...?_)

Rose then remembers her previous thoughts of going to the bakery,and starts walking towards town.

(I should probably pick up some more turnip seeds too--)

"Goddamn idiot parents!..."

Rose turns her head in the direction of the voice.Walking down a sloping pathway to her right is a young girl,about her age. She has long,straight light brown hair with two light blonde highlights sticking out in front,and her slightly tanned cheeks are flushed with anger.She comes to the end of the pathway,muttering darkly,but not loudly enough for Rose to make out the words.It's only when the girl turns to face Rose that she finally notices her.

"Oh,hi." She says,her face unreadable. "You're the new girl,right?" She walks over to Rose,and her expression quickly changes from surprise,to extreme interest. "Woah,are you from the city?!" 

Rose blinks. "Um,Yeah.I'm Rose."

The girl grins brightly,and Rose gets the sense that it's not something she does very often. "My name's Karen.I just love your outfit!" She holds out her hand and Rose automatically shakes it ((She'd been doing it whenever she met a new townsperson,after all ^^;;)). "The headband is a cute accessory,too.Really goes with that tanktop."

At first Rose is too shocked to say anything,but she quickly recovers after a couple of seconds. "T-thanks!!" She says,beaming.This is the first time she'd heard anybody talk about clothes since she had gotten onto that stupid ferry,and _GOD how she had missed it_. On instinct,Rose looks down to see what Karen is wearing,and is incredibly surprised to see how..._modern(!)_...The clothing is: A white _tanktop_,a purple_ blouse_,and,low and behold,short **_blue jeans_** ((O_O!!!)).

Rose's eyes bulge. "Wow...that's the first time I've seen anyone wearing jeans since I got here..."

Karen sighs, "Yeah,these people have absolutely NO fashion sense!" She says in a frustrated tone of voice.

Rose rolls her eyes theatrically, "I -KNOW-!" 

The two snicker happily and continue chatting.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After a bit more talking,Rose had asked Karen if she wanted to join her at the bakery for lunch.Karen enthusiastically accepted,and now they make their way across town.

"Hey Rose?" Karen says,curious green eyes fixed on the redhead walking beside her.

"Yeah?" Rose responds,looking up at a passing bird.Her sunglasses slip a little,but she quickly fixes this.

"Did you bring any..._catalogs_ with you?" 

Rose looks at Karen,and nearly has to bite back laughter at the sight of her. Her emerald eyes are wide and dewy,and the most hopeful smile Rose has ever seen in her entire life is played across her face.A perfect Bambi imitation. "Y-yeah,why?" She says between fits of quiet giggling. A look of pure rapture envelops Karen's face.

"THANK GOD!!I thought I was gonna have to wait until my next BIRTHDAY for another chance to shop!" She says,grinning feverishly.Rose gapes at her.

"Wait a minute,you're saying you have to wait a YEAR to buy new clothes?!Why?!"

Karen sighs dramatically, "My parents don't want me spending all my paychecks on clothes...Even though I don't even **_buy_ anything _else_**." She says the last three words in an incredibly edgy tone of voice,and Rose looks enraged.

"That's terrible!So they just make you wear the same outfits the entire year?!"

Karen shakes her head,twitching slightly. "No,my mom sows me dozens of outfits.But see,they're all so _frilly_ and _formal_ and shit!And she never makes me normal clothes no matter how many times I ask her!I can't stand it.I mean,sure,_sometimes_ I try one on when I'm in a good mood or whatever,but whenever I leave my room in it all I get is my parents' embarrassing jokes.They're so stupid!!" Karen looks incredibly irritated,and Rose appears to be on the verge of tears with empathy. 

"That totally sucks!! Of course you can use my catalogs!" She exclaims,and Karen lets out a relieved sigh.

"Oh my god,thank you soooo much!!" She yells,clapping her hands together and feigning awe in mock prayer. The two girls laugh quietly until they reach the bakery door a few moments later.

They walk up to the counter,and Karen looks around impatiently.

"Jeff?You there?" She calls.

"Uh,coming!" Replies a nervous male voice,and soon a skinny,youngish man with a mustache and slightly thinning black hair,looking around 35 or so,runs up to the counter.The afore-mentioned mustache twitches slightly,and Rose is distinctly reminded of rabbits as this man,apperantly 'Jeff',coughs lightly and fiddles with his bow tie,then stammers the question: "W-what can I getcha,l-ladies?"

Karen orders a plate of sugar cookies,and Rose a slice of strawberry cheesecake.The two sit down at one of the bakery's small tables,and promptly begin eating their meals.

"The food here's really good,doncha think?" Rose asks through a mouthful of cake.

Karen swallows half a cookie,nodding. "Yeah,way better than the crap they used to serve at the bar when it was part restaurant."

Rose blinks at her,arching an eyebrow slightly. "The bar used to be a restaurant?"

"Yeah." Karen replies between bites of cookie,shrugging. "The food sucked,though,and they almost shut down,'cept the Mayor told 'em not to because the town needed a bar,and they had good drinks.S'no big thing,happened a couple years ago."

"Uh-huh..." Rose replies,shrugging and changing the subject without another thought. 

A few minutes later they finish their food and talk a while longer,then get up and leave,heading out of town (With a quick stop at the florist for a bag of turnip seeds,of course).Karen watches with interest as Rose quickly forages some things at Moon Mountain,then runs back to her farm and tosses them into the bin,frantically planting the turnip seeds a moment later and watering them in record time.Panting,Rose starts toward her home,but Karen quickly walks over and grabs her arm,pointing towards the beach.

"Lets go to the dock,first.We can still catch the sunset if we hurry."

Rose blinks in surprise."Uhm,alright,I guess..."

The two make their way down the steep stone pathway,taking off their shoes so they don't get dirty.Rose takes a step onto the beach,grinning as the warm sand covers her bare feet.Karen is used to this,however,so she takes no time to revel in the pleasant feel of it.

"Come on!" She yells to Rose as she runs towards the water,gesturing to the dock with her arm. "The sun's starting to go down!"

Rose quickly catches up to Karen,and they sit down at the edge of the dock. Karen lets her feet dangle about 4 inches above the water,but Rose folds her legs up tight against her,arms encircling them.

Karen notices this and laughs."Don't worry,the only things down there are fish.They can't do any harm."

Rose hesitates,but ends up letting her feet dangle as well,smiling up at the fiery clouds.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rose wakes up the next morning,and,for a moment,has absolutely no idea why there are magazines strewn out all over her room.

"What the--" She then remembers the events from the night before.After she had watched the sunset with Karen,they had gone back to Rose's farm to look through the catalogs she had brought with her from the city.It wasn't until around midnight that Karen had decided to head home.

Rose sits up and starts flipping through the magazines,grinning sleepily at the items Karen had circled with a purple marker,which was almost all of them... 

((Flashback time ^.^ From now on,flashbacks are normal writing,'cept in italics.Ain't that spiffy o.o Plus theyre separated with the pretty star thingies @.@))

* * * *

__

Karen and Rose giggled quietly as they sat on Rose's bed,and leaned over two different catalogs.They had already gone through a bunch of other ones,and Rose was growing suspicious as to how Karen was planning to pay for all the items she had circled.She asked this now,her head propped up in her hands.

Karen laughed and circled another thing. "I know how to convert gold to a bunch of other currencies." She said,grinning proudly."Did you know that one gold coin translates to over FIFTY American dollars!? I can buy –ten- outfits with only –ten- coins!!It's so awesome!!And yen,ooooh,don't even get me started on yen..."

Rose stared dumbstruck at her friend as she watched her circle more items. "R-really?!That's AMAZING!!" She hadn't really thought about the fact that the coins she had such a large amount of were made of such a rare metal,so when Karen had mentoned it she had been,quite frankly,in awe.

Karen giggled cheerfully as she circled a particularly nice shirt,and doodled a little crown mark above it. "Yup!"

* * *

Rose looks over at the clock,and her eyes nearly pop out of her head.

"Shit!9:00!I'm gonna be late!!"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

25 minutes later,Rose looks herself over in her full-length mirror (which she had insisted her parents let her bring when she had packed).She is dressed in a peach-colored,short-sleeved blouse with largish,filmy yellow roses printed all over it (and small gold-colored buttons),and a tight,businessy white skirt that goes down to her knees,where it flares out and ruffles a bit for decoration.She frowns down at her pale yellow high-heels,wishing she had something that went a tad better.She also notes that the lipstick shade might be a little off as well,or perhaps the ponytail she did her hair in would look better as a braid...She sighs dejectedly.

(Oh well,I don't have time to be picky!) She thinks,and in an instant is out the door,walking quickly past the already-watered crops,and all but jogging through the farm gates,grabbing a nearby tree to keep from tripping on her heels.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rose stumbles quickly through town, praying that she wont trip before she reaches the stone stairway that seems just ever so far away at the moment.However,she arrives at her destination rather quickly,still fifteen minutes before the festival even begins.Rose lets out a huge sigh of relief,and sits down on the bottom step,catching her breath and waiting for the mayor to finish setting up the balloon stand with Lillia and Popuri.A few minutes later the mayor calls her over to help arrange the wheel-legged tables ((A/N: Y'know,the long tables with little tiny wheels on the table legs?^.^; )) that would soon be covered with all sorts of yummy foods.Rose walks over to them and Popuri gasps.

"Wow,Rose,you look GREAT!" She says,walking over to her and patting her on the shoulder.She herself is dressed in a creamy,pale blue jumper,with a white blouse underneath.Her wavy pink hair is done up in two cute ponytails,and a shiny white ribbon is tied around her waist,forming a bow in back.

Rose blinks at her,giving a slight smile. "Er,thanks...You look nice too." 

They chatter a bit longer,Popuri good-naturedly,Rose a tad awkwardly but cheerily all the same.By the time the small group of 'workers' finish setting everything up it's still only 10:15,and the only people who had arrived on time besides Rose were the Mayor,Lillia,Popuri,Harris (Mailman) and Zack.The square begins to fill up quickly after a couple more minutes of waiting,however,and soon it seems as though everyone who had planned on coming to the festival at all had already arrived,so the Mayor clears his throat,puffing his chest slightly and making quite an effort to look very,very important. Rose holds back a laugh.

"Ladies and Gentleman," He drawls snootily,and Rose notices Ann and Popuri breaking down in a fit of quiet giggling nearby. She then looks back to the mayor,who apparently chose to ignore this. "Welcome to the annual sowing festival,a holiday that has been around for many a year.I hope you will enjoy yourselves. Especially all you young people there!" He chortles,and several of the 'young people' snicker a tiny bit through large,fake smiles. 

The mayor clears his throat again and continues, "And now,the main event!...Will the current king please step forwa--"

"HEY!WAIIIT!!!"

Rose jumps at the shouting of the familiar voice and turns to see Karen and three other people running up the stairs,stopping for breath when they get to the top.

"Sorry,Mayor." Says one of the people behind Karen,a large,bearded man in a damp white T-shirt and jeans. "There was an emergency at the vineyard." His baratone voice is gruff and unsophisticated,and his eyes are dark and slightly beady.An involuntary shiver runs down Rose's spine.

"Not to mention Miss Karen _refused_ to wear the dress I made for this occasion..." Quietly adds another of the three,and 'Miss Karen' glares venemously at her.She is a thin,strict-looking woman,her dirty blonde hair up in a tight bun,her emerald green eyes dull and melancholy.

((That must be Karen's mom...And...Geez,is that huge wierdo her dad!?)) Rose thinks,arching an eyebrow at the odd-looking couple,then turning to look at the last person in the group.He is much younger than the parents,in fact,he looks to be about the same age as Karen and herself,with dark,tanned skin and odd purple eyes.His hair is hidden under a fuchsia bandana,and he seems to be wearing some sort of strange uniform.He says nothing,just smiles timidly at the crowd.Rose catches Karen's eye and they smile at each other,waving a little.

The mayor blinks at the four newcomers,then assumes a rather miffed air. He gives a quiet 'harumph',then speaks to them in an extra-snobby tone of voice."Yes,well,please try to come on time next year..." He straightens his tiny pair of glasses,and strikes a dramatic little pose. 

"Now then,will the current king please step forward!!"

A smiling old man walks up towards the mayor,and Rose recognizes him as the potions brewer she had met on her first day at the beach.She watches as he stops in front of the hot air balloon,and turns to face the crowd,waving vaguely.

"Now then,Barley..." The mayor says,still trying hard to sound snooty,though not quite as hard as a moment ago,((That's the Potion Brewer's name in Back to Nature (PSX HM game),so I think I'll call him that here too X.x;! )) "Please choose somebody from the crowd to ride in the balloon with you.

Barley looks around,and soon his gaze rests upon his two grandsons,Kent and Stu.

((A/N: Sorry,I forgot which of the two he took up with him and which one was too scared to go or whatever in the actual game. X-x I haven't played HM64 in a while...Let's just say it's Stu,alright?^^;;; ))

After a brief conversation of quiet murmuring with the two young boys,Barley smiles warmly and takes Stu's hand,helping him up into the balloon.When the two are ready,the mayor snips the ropes holding them down with a pair of large scissors,and soon they are floating up into the sky.In a couple of minutes they are just a tiny speck off in the distance. A few people cheer,and the mayor clears his throat once again.

"Now then,everyone,please go and get your balloons from Lillia!" He says,letting his 'sophisticated' exterior drop for a moment and smiling merrily up at his largish audience.People immediately begin to line up in front of the wooden stand,and Rose is about to follow suit when she feels someone tugging at her elbow.She whirls around to meet Karen's sparkling green gaze.

"Hey!" Karen says cheerfully,and Rose grins at her,giving a similar greeting then pausing a moment to take a look at her.

She really does look a quite a bit more formal than yesterday.Her tawny brown hair is tied (With lavender scrunchies) into two loose braids,and Rose notes that the outfit she is wearing,while not a _dress_,is rather nice looking all the same. A very pale blue top,slightly frilled around the edges,and a long,white skirt (with gold and silver speckles splattered here and there) as well as a few pretty bracelets on each arm,and a translucent gold scarf around her neck.

Karen smirks and nudges her, "If you think _this_ is bad,you shoulda seen what my mom WANTED me to wear..." She does a mock shudder.

Rose laughs and smirks as well,eyebrows raised. "Whatever you say,_Miss Karen_."

Karen sticks her toungue out at Rose and they both giggle quietly,lining up to get their balloons.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rose looks around the square.About an hour had past since the festival had began,and several things had already taken place.After the balloons had been released,it had been time for lunch,so they had all sat down as Lillia and Elli served the food on the wheeled tables. Rose had tried the mashed potatoes (made by the Mayor's wife,Anna), the turnip stew (Made by the local midwife),the vegetable omelet (Made by Lillia and Doug) and many of the salads,all of which had been very tasty.After the food there had been dancing,and one of the young men in town,named Rick,had asked Rose to dance with him.He was a nice guy,and he wasn't unattractive,either,but there just weren't any 'sparks',as her mother would say,so it really wasn't very romantic for either of them when they danced.Rose had been surprised at how well Karen had danced,but she never had a chance,because as soon as the music stopped Karen had taken up bickering with her mother over dance styles,and,eventually,everything else they disagreed on.

Now Rose strolls about the square,looking for something interesting to do.She considers just giving it up and heading home,and is about to do so,when a voice calls out to her:

"Rose!Over here!!"

Rose turns to see Lillia and Popuri waving to her behind a small stand on the other side of the square,much like the one they had used for the balloons. It looks as though they're selling something different now,and as rose squints,she is able to make out the small,familiar shape of a seed satchel. Surprised and curious,she jogs over to them.

"Yeah?" She says,untangling a strand of hair that had gotten caught in her necklace while she was running.

"Rose,mama has some special seeds to sell you!" Popuri says,grinning at her.

Rose looks down at the satchels. They _are _different colors than the usual ones,acually.One is a deep,dark forest green color,another navy blue,and the last one is swamp green with grass green polk-a-dots.Rose blinks at them,and picks up the first one.

"That one is for cucumber seeds." Says Lillia,smiling. "320 gold a bag,each cucumber plant sells for 80 gold,and the plant grows new cucumbers every few days after the first harvest.The second one is for okra,a plant used for making tea.It's going for 380 a bag,and sells for 90 gold each.One crop grows many harvests of okra,just like the cucumbers." She then points to the third one,the one with spots. "And those are for peas.280 gold a bag,each pod sells for 60 gold.Also repetitive harvest,like the other two." The two pink haired ladies smile encouragingly at their customer. "Now then,would you like to buy anything?"

Rose nods vigorously,eyes widening as she sloppily and very quickly calculates the gold she could make by the end of spring in her head. She purchases 2 bags of cucumber,2 bags of okra and 3 bags of peas,then leaves the festival with a large grin on her face and over half of her money gone.

Oh well!

****

~ Continued in Chapter 5 ~

Author's Inane Speech of Yay: OMFG I GO HOME TOMMOROW YAY!!!T_T AHAHAHA...But I start skool in a week =_= A WEEK,I SAY!Eeeeevil...Erf,anyway,I'll try to get to chapter five before ZE EVIL BUILDING YEAR BEGINS ONCE AGAIN ;.; And I'll definatly try to keep updateing this fic even after I ish held captive.Byebye now!u.u

~Pheep


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